Field of the Invention
This invention is an electrical connector and more particularly an electrical tap connector for electrically and mechanically connecting an electrical tap conductor to a main conductor. The tap conductor can take at least two forms. One form is a cable. The other is a bail to which local tap connectors may be attached and removed periodically without disturbing the main connector and further enabling the tap connection to be made while the cable is carrying a high potential voltage, a situation described as "hot".
A number of connector assemblies have been proposed and made available to the market place for connecting tap conductors or tap lines to overhead electrical main conductors. One such assembly is taught in U.S. Pat. No. 4,027,939, issued to one Thomas White. The White patent shows a connector comprising generally a C-shaped housing wherein the main conductor is intended to be positioned in the upper part of the housing and the tap conductor in the lower part of the housing. A tapered wedge block is manually positioned between the main and tap conductors and is then forced into the housing, which wedges the conductors away from each other and against the upper and lower walls of the C-shaped housing.
Probably the most significant disadvantage of the White device is that there is no way for conveniently removing the wedge block if it is ever desired to disconnect the conductors. Although there are tools available for working with hot main lines, the insertion of the wedge by such tools can be very difficult.
A similar connector is disclosed by Kelly U.S. Pat. No. 1,801,277 which is cited as prior art in White.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,114,977 assigned to the assignee of the present applicants, teaches a convenient means of fastening a main and tap conductor in a cross-grid position, but again lacks the capability of convenient disassembly and does require insertion of a separate wedge piece.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,544,956 provides an electrical connector which includes a feature allowing the conductor engaging members to be withdrawn from the conductor for disassembly. Again, however, this prior art teaching is a device which cannot be installed with one hand and is quite complex in that it requires two different screw devices for separately securing conductors.
Although there are other connectors both patented and unpatented in the background of the present invention, sufficient understanding of the field will be obtained by referring to U.S. Pat. No. 4,415,222 issued to Mario Polidori. The Polidori device includes a C-shaped body having a curved top wall adapted to fit over a main conductor. A screw-operated wedge is carried by the bottom of the C-shaped body. A separate conductor interface insert has a handle which allows the conductor interface to be placed within the connector body between the connectors.
The Polidori U.S. Pat. No. 4,415,222 enables a wedge to be moved both in and out so that the clamping action of the connector can be tightened or loosened as desired. The device also includes a frangible nut configuration as an integral part of the system to prevent over-tightening of the screw. Although shear devices are old and well known it is possible that U.S. Pat. No. 4,415,222 is the first to employ such a device in a electrical connector environment.